Moment in Time
by FoodAndWifi
Summary: Aerrow will always be there for Piper, even through her darkness. *originally titled Tired, adding context.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you Luke Danger for your constructive review! This is why I have restarted this story, so I can give my story a little more oomph. It has the same essential story line, (what I picture would happen in season three) but I'm throwing in more context, like suggested. This will only be 10 chapters at most, so hopefully everyone enjoys this!**

Piper recognized the dark, desolate landscape; Cyclonis was invading her mind again. Piper was simply trying to do research on perfect attunement, and what could have triggered it. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with darkness enveloping her vision. Now, she was here twisting herself, trying to find the very being who entered her mind. She heard mirthless laughter echo from behind her.

Piper turned around to face the other girl who was standing behind her and gave her a piercing glare, "what do you want, Cyclonis?" Piper asked sharply, cutting to the chase.

"I came to give you praise, Piper. I'm impressed, you've achieved Perfect Attunement and quite frankly, it took me by surprise."

Piper folded her arms and ground her teeth, asking her the same previous question, "what do you want?"

"Piper, I'm telling you that you did a good job, and I'm trying to help you," Cyclonis said, "and this is the thanks I get?"

"I don't _need_ your help," Piper snapped stepping closer to her.

Cyclonis stepped closer to Piper, Piper responded by taking a couple steps back, her fists clenched, "you do Piper, you're lost, you don't know what to do," Cyclonis said with mock concern.

"I said I don't want your help," Piper's expression changed from anger into a smug smile although deep inside, she wasn't confident, "besides, I think I've got it under control."

"Do you? I don't think you do. You may think you won, that you've mastered it, but you're _wrong_ ," Cyclonis responded darkly, lightning flashed, and Cyclonis was gone.

Piper knew full well that Cyclonis was still around, so she turned around and Cyclonis was right behind her placing a hand on her shoulder that Piper shrugged off, Piper stepping away.

"You just need to keep practicing, Piper and you can be just like me."

"I am _nothing_ like you, I will never _be_ anything like you," Piper said through gritted teeth stepping towards Cyclonis.

"That's where you're wrong, Piper. Why do you think I'm here, it's not because we're opposites. Every day, you come closer to being evil, and if you think you won and everything is easy, you're wrong," Cyclonis gave a mirthless chuckle, "I also have a few surprises in store, so don't say I didn't warn you," Cyclonis motioned her hand towards Piper's left

Piper's eyes widened, what could this possibly mean? She looked over to where Cyclonis was looking, she was something that looked like a piece of broken glass that wasn't there before; it showed Piper, the same Piper that was shown by Cyclonis, the Piper that is just like Cyclonis.

Lightning flashed in the sky, and next thing she knew she was free from Cyclonis' grip. Piper jolted upward, letting out a scream. She felt a warm hand holding hers, she didn't bother to pay attention to who it was,

"Piper,-" the person began, and Piper looked up to see that it was Aerrow; his concern-filled eyes looked glassy, almost as if there were tears that were threatening to make their way up.

She pulled away and hastily backed up against the Condor's wall, quickly rising to standing position. In fact she stood up so quickly her vision hazed for a moment. She heard Cyclonis' laughter echo in her mind, making Piper's heartbeat quicken. Aerrow rose to standing position as well, a cautious hand out in front of him, slowly making his way over to the girl.

"Stay back!" Piper said sharply, pressing herself against the wall even more. She stretched her arm placing her hand directly in front of her almost to defend, "I don't want to hurt you."

"What are you talking about? You're not going to hurt me," Aerrow responded, still cautiously moving towards her his face etched in deep concern.

"I said stay _back_ ," she shouted, a stern look on her face. She tried to back away even more even though she was pressed against the wall.

"Piper," Aerrow began, almost mirroring her stern facial expression, "what's going on with you?"

Piper was silent for a moment, looking down as she lowered her arm, "nothing, don't worry about it, i'm okay," she replied rather quickly.

"You're not okay and this doesn't look like nothing," Aerrow said sharply, "the last time that something like this happened you started getting sick, and you almost _died_ ," Aerrow looked angry and scared at once, "I don't want that to happen again. I'm not letting you off the hook this time, so I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what in the wastelands is going on with you!"

Piper glared at Aerrow with a raised eyebrow, "you think that this was what made me _sick_?"

"What else am I supposed to think, Piper?"

"That's not what made me sick, this is completely different," Piper said quietly, but coldly she knew she wasn't able to get out of this one. She never told Aerrow what had happened that evening on the landing strip on the Condor, the last time Cyclonis invaded her mind. Taking in a breath, she continued walking away from the wall but away from Aerrow, her back to him.

"You want to know what's going on? Cyclonis is contacting me," Piper said rather sharply, she softened her voice as she continued, turning around to look at Aerrow, "she does it through the power of the Binding. She goes into my head and tells me things..." Piper trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"What does she tell you?" Aerrow asked, looking attentively at the girl.

"She tells me that… that the Binding is evil, that it's dark, but to keep practicing, and that when I master it… it will make me just like… her," Piper whispered, looking away.

Aerrow was silent for a moment, "why didn't you say anything?"

"Because Aerrow," Piper whirled around to face him, with the same anger from before, "I didn't want to distract you. There has been so much more going on that you need to worried about than this… this stupid little problem."

"Piper, this is very serious. You could have died for all I know," Aerrow said, his voice softening a bit, but still stern.

"I should have told you," Piper confirmed, breathed in and initiated in taking a few steps, hoping to calm herself, "but what if I'm like Cyclonis? What if I turn evil, into something like her?"

"You are nothing like Cyclonis," Aerrow responded.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Piper mumbled still walking back and forth.

"You're not. She's probably just using this as a scare tactic to keep you from using the Binding."

Piper stopped dead in her tracks, giving Aerrow yet another glare, similar to the one she gave him when he told her that they can beat Cyclonis another way, "and how do you know? What if I do end up turning evil? What if I completely turn on you guys?" Piper began to raise her voice, a million emotions flooding through her mind as she felt tears threatening to make their way up, "what if I end up _killing_ you? Just like Cyclonis did with the Dark Ace! _Do you want that_?"

"No! Of course I don't want that," Aerrow retorted, he was silent for a moment and his expression softened, "Piper, do you really think that the Binding will make you evil?"

Piper was now turned away from Aerrow, looking at the floor; she remained silent for a moment before answering, her voice shaking, "I don't know."

Tears began to blur her vision; she ground her teeth and began to shake, holding in her flood of emotions. Aerrow noticed her shaking but unmoving state and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around to see tears slowly trailing down her cheeks.

"Hey," Aerrow said softly, soothingly while placing his other hand on Piper's other shoulder so he was holding her by her shoulders, "it's okay."

Piper sniffled and shook her head, "it's not okay, it's never been okay."

She broke down, her shoulders shaking with gentle sobs. Aerrow wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into an embrace so that she was crying on his shoulder. Aerrow rubbed soothing circles on her upper back, hoping to calm her down. His face was drawn into a frown because he hated seeing her like this; he hated seeing the girl who he admired and knew as such a strong girl break down like this.

Aerrow turned his head to whisper into her ear, "hey, we're in this together alright? This isn't something you should bear alone."

Piper sniffled and nodded, backing up a bit so her face wasn't buried in his shoulder, but stared at the floor, "if I hadn't used the Binding, none of this would have happened," she whispered.

"And we would have been dead," Aerrow added. Piper didn't respond, she was still looking at the floor, sniffling with tears streaming out of her eyes at a semi-constant flow, "hey, look at me."

She obeyed, raising her tear-stained face to look at Aerrow, and he continued, "nothing that has happened is your fault, it's not your fault that Cyclonis is evil, it's not your fault that the Dark Ace died. None of that is your fault, alright?"

Piper nodded, wiping away her tears from her cheeks, "but, what if I turn evil?"

"That won't be your fault either, I know you don't want to be evil. If that's true, I'm gonna do everything that I can to keep that from happening because I care about you," Aerrow said softly.

That took Piper by surprise, but she gave Aerrow a sad smile nonetheless.

"Look, I know I don't understand, Piper. I will probably never understand what you're going through, but at least let me _try_."


	2. Chapter 2

Piper stood at the Condor's balcony, staring at the beautiful scenery that was presented in front of her. The sky was a contrast of orange, pink, yellow as nighttime was nigh. The others were inside of the Condor, laughing and making jokes. Piper didn't particularly pay attention to what they were joking about, she enjoyed her solitude staring at the beautiful horizon in front of her; she finally took some time for herself. These past months have been so hectic, Piper was glad she felt peace after three months. Piper was so caught in enjoying her peace and quiet she didn't even hear footsteps approaching her.

"Hey," it was Aerrow.

Piper turned her head to face Aerrow and gave him a small smile, "hi."

It was almost awkward being alone with Aerrow, ever since everyone they have met in the Far Side has thought they were together, which has caused Finn to make subtle jokes about it. It made her realize that she liked him... more than a friend.

"Why aren't you with the others?" Piper asked.

Aerrow let out a chuckle, "it's gotten pretty loud in there," the boy said with a half smile, looking back at Finn and Junko laughing and making jokes, "besides, I figured you were out here."

Piper gave a small smile and returned her gaze to the horizon, "it's beautiful out here."

Aerrow looked at Piper, he decided to agree with her; but he didn't care about the horizon, so he fixed his gaze on her, "yeah, it really is."

He eventually looked at the sky and the pair stood in companionable silence for a few moments, before Aerrow looked over again and spoke up, "hey, how are you holding up? With the Binding and everything."

Piper smiled, again, "I'm okay, as good as any other day."

Still looking at Piper, Aerrow gave another smile, "good, I'm glad to hear you're doing okay."

Piper stayed silent for a minute, still looking at the darkening horizon, she spoke up again, "hey Aerrow?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for being there for me through everything. I know I've been difficult and if I were you I'd throw me in the Wastelands but you didn't," she looked up at Aerrow, "you've been patient with me."

Aerrow laughed, "of course I wouldn't throw you in the Wastelands, we need you for a crystal mage," he teased.

Piper rolled her eyes and looked away with a frown. Aerrow placed his hand on hers and moved closer, Piper didn't notice this until she looked over and was taken by surprise how close Aerrow was to her.

"Of course I'm going to be there for you, and I'll be there for you a million times over if I had to," Aerrow said with gentle softness, not letting go of her hand and looking into her beautiful carnelian eyes.

Piper smiled as Aerrow traced small circles in her hand. She felt her stomach flutter, her eyes casting down on the railing, and she decided to speak, "so, it's a lot different around here, huh?"

Aerrow didn't answer, he let go of her hand and placed it on her shoulder, slowly turning her around to face him. He moved his hand so it was in place behind her neck, her eyes casted on his lips then moved back up to his green eyes. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, almost giving each other silent permission. They slowly began to close in the space between them. Piper placed her hands behind his neck as they leaned closer and closer, she could feel his breath which almost seemed kind of shaky. Was he nervous?

It felt like forever, but the pair moved closer and closer. Their lips were almost touching; Piper could almost feel Aerrow's lips. Then, Piper heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Hey guys, you wanna hear a joke?" It was Finn.

Hastily, the pair pulled away from each other with a sheepish smile on their faces. Piper looked at Finn, who let out a devious chuckle with a large grin. He definitely knows we were about to kiss.

"Was I interrupting something?" Finn asked mischievously.

"No! No, no not at all, heh," Aerrow was a terrible liar, and everyone knew it. He placed his hand behind his neck, rubbing it with a sheepish grin.

"Are you sure? 'Cause it looked like you two were about to smooch," Finn replied, folding his arms with a smug expression.

"No! We were just talking... talking about- uh life," Aerrow lied, the sheepish smile widening.

Piper looked at Aerrow with a dumbfounded look and face-palmed, "Aerrow," Piper whispered her palm still on her face, he looked over, "just face it, he caught us red handed!"

"But-" Aerrow began in a whisper shooting a quick glance at Finn but he stopped himself and looked at Piper with a frown on his face and looked at Finn, "Finn, if you say a word of this to anyone, I'm gonna- I'm gonna," Aerrow couldn't find a threat; even though Finn irritated him at times (right now being an example), he was still his friend and wouldn't want to intentionally hurt him.

Piper on the other hand (even though they were still friends), had a sibling squabble with Finn, meaning threats were no problem, "Finn, if you speak of word of this to anyone, I will shove my boot so far down your throat you will never talk again."

"Yeah, whatever I won't tell anyone," Finn responded as if a fly flew past him, turning on his heel and walking back into the Condor.

After they both knew Finn was out of hearing range, Piper was first to speak up, "well….."

"That's just terrific," Aerrow said sarcastically, a frown on his face.

Piper looked at Aerrow, who to her looked very worked up, "Aerrow," she laughed, "don't get so worked up about it."

"But, it's Finn. He won't let us live this out, things will be…. awkward," Aerrow mumbled the last word, looking down he almost began to panic, "and what if when everyone finds out about it, Cyclonis does? That could be dangerous!"

Piper placed her hands and Aerrow's forearms comfortingly, "we'll worry about it when it's time," Piper looked behind her, where the others were, "we should probably head back."

Aerrow nodded and gave a small, but sad smile, "yeah, you're right," he began to walk away but Piper grabbed his wrist. He turned to look at her, and she moved closer to him.

"I'll see you around, okay?" Piper gave him a smile.

"Yeah, of course," Aerrow said softly.

Piper leaned in and gave Aerrow a quick peck on his cheek, in which she noticed a blush crept onto his cheeks. She winked at him and walked back into the Condor. Piper honestly hoped for the best out of this; hoped that she wouldn't have this taken away from her because it was the first time she felt content in almost three months.


	3. Chapter 3

The past couple days were awkward, if Piper could say the least. From what she could see, Finn hasn't left Aerrow alone about it. Speaking of Aerrow, she and him have hardly spoken other than once running into Aerrow.

* * *

 _Piper was looking down, making her way to her crystal lab to do some research when she felt herself bump into someone. She quickly looked up to see she had bumped into Aerrow._

" _Whoa! Hey," Aerrow spoke, rubbing the crook of his neck nervously._

 _Piper chuckled nervously, "hi."_

 _Aerrow and Piper shared nervous glances for a few moments before walking away from each other._

* * *

Piper missed him, she wanted to kiss him, to be held by him, to have the same butterflies she did the other night. She sighed sadly to herself, wondering if she's ruined her friendship with Aerrow.

A knock on her door interrupted Piper's thoughts, she turned around in the stool she was sitting in, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Radarr who walked over to her, this caused Piper to give a small smile at the creature, "Hi Radarr."

Radarr squawked and waved at Piper before handing her a folded sheet of paper. Piper raised an eyebrow in curiosity and unfolded the paper to reveal handwriting, Aerrow's handwriting.

 _Can I see you tonight?_

Piper's heart leapt happily. He must have written her a note as opposed to asking her in person or over the intercom to avoid Finn poking into their business, she thought. She picked a pencil and wrote down her response.

 _Yes, where and what time?_

Radarr was still standing behind her, waiting for what he should do next. Piper refolded the note and handed it back to Radarr, indicating for him to give it to Aerrow.

"Radarr," Piper began, Radarr stopped in his tracks, sounding a questioning squawk, "you know about what happened the other night, don't you?"

Radarr nodded with a smile on his face; he was happy for them.

* * *

Aerrow sat on his bed, nervously twiddling his thumbs. Who knew what Piper was going to say to him? She could tell him to shove it for all he knew. The door opened to reveal Radarr. He walked over to Aerrow and handed him the note that he had given Piper. Aerrow reopened it and saw Piper's response. The boy smiled and wrote down his response.

 _Probably later in my room, I was thinking after the others were in bed. Keeps people from knowing you were here._

 _Yes, that works fine by me :)_

 _Okay, awesome. I just wanted to talk._

 _About what? Do you regret the other night? When we almost kissed._

 _Never. It's about that but I wish we could've actually kissed. :(_

 _I know what you mean. Me too._

 _So you'll be coming to my room tonight?_

 _Tonight._

* * *

Nighttime fell upon the Condor, and Aerrow waited nervously for Piper. He was usually optimistic but he wondered if she forgot, or if she didn't want to. He felt his heart thump against his chest as he heard footsteps approach his room, he didn't want to get his hopes up but he hoped it was Piper. The footsteps stopped and there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," Aerrow called.

The door opened to reveal Piper, she gave the boy a warm smile and she slowly stepped in.

"Hey," Aerrow said softly, a smile forming on his face.

"Hi," Piper replied, mirroring Aerrow's smile. Sitting beside Aerrow, she asked, "you wanted to talk?"

Aerrow nodded, "I wanna get right to it - I-I really like you, like a lot. I want this to work out, but these past couple of days have been really awkward since we almost… you know."

Piper slowly nodded, indicating she was listening. Encouraged by this, Aerrow continued, "I think we should at least set some rules and boundaries while… this is going on. That wouldn't be too much… would it?"

"No, Aerrow," Piper began with a smile, "to be honest I was thinking the same thing, but I didn't want to be overbearing."

Aerrow let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad we're on the same page. I just want to be cautious."

"So I have this one for certain, no… couply things in front of the others," Piper stated.

"Not even Finn? I mean he already knows, and so does Radarr but he wouldn't tell anyone," Aerrow questioned.

"Especially not Finn. I'm thinking if we don't do anything long enough he'll forget about our almost kiss," Piper stated with a smug matter-of-fact look on her face.

Aerrow stroked his chin in thought, "that could work. He'll probably stop thinking about it as soon as something else comes up."

"Exactly, Finn isn't somebody who will think about something for a long period of time unless it keeps being brought up," Piper said with a confident smile.

"I think we should keep this light and breezy. Like nothing too intense right now. Ya know what I mean?"

"Yeah, definitely," Piper nodded, "can you think of any other rules that we may have missed?"

"Don't tell anyone else?"

Piper laughed, "that's self explanatory."

"Yeah," Aerrow laughed, "that's true."

Aerrow reached over and gently grasped Piper's hand, moving closer to her. Piper smiled as she looked up at him, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Hey, Piper?"

"Hm?"

Aerrow took in a deep breath, he looked extremely nervous, "can I… can I… kiss you?"

Piper gently took Aerrow's forearm, and smiled at Aerrow as she slowly nodded her head. The two started moving closer and closer, much similar to the other night.

Piper's half opened eyes closed as her lips met Aerrow's while she threaded her fingers in his hair. His lips were soft and warm, and they set her nerves on fire. Aerrow wrapped his arms around Piper's waist and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Their lips slowly began to move in unison, resulting in Piper letting out a soft moan against his lips.

Aerrow quickly pulled away, his eyes wide and out of breath. He brought his hand up to her chin, gently stroking her bottom lip with his thumb, "wow…"

"That was… amazing."

At that moment, the pair heard a thud against the door. An annoyed groan came from the other side of the door: _Finn_ 's annoyed groan.

Aerrow let out an annoyed sigh, "Finn, what are you doing outside of my door?"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Finn, attempting a higher pitched voice, "there is no Finn here."

Aerrow sighed and got up from his seated position. He opened the door and saw Finn crouched down by his door, giving Aerrow a "deer in the headlights" look.

"Dude, how did I get here?" Finn asked with fake innocence before getting up and walking away.

Aerrow rolled his eyes and looked back at Piper speaking up when Finn was gone, "You should probably head back."

Piper nodded, and got up, "at least before Finn sees us, but he could have heard us too."

Aerrow rolled his eyes and shook his head, "who knows?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, sleep well, alright?"

"You too," with that being said, Piper gave Aerrow a quick peck on his lips before departing.

* * *

Aerrow and Piper had just returned from a recon mission, there were signs of Cyclonian activity so the two thought they'd check it out.

Little did they know, Finn proceeded to tell Junko and Stork about Aerrow and Piper almost kissing. A very upset Junko approached Aerrow and Piper.

"You guys… almost kissed, and didn't tell me?!"

"What?" Piper questioned.

"Finn told us _everything_! Do you guys not trust me? Because that hurts! I thought I was your friend! I love lovey-dovey stuff!"

"Come on buddy, it wasn't like that," Aerrow began but Junko cut him off.

"No. You guys hurt my feelings by not trusting me," and with that being said, Junko stormed off, sniffling.

"Junko, wait," Aerrow tried to say but Junko ignored him.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Stork appeared and approached the two, "You guys should be really careful. Romantic behavior is a sign of _mindworms_."

Aerrow and Piper looked at each other quizzically, before looking back at Stork.

"You could also get Piper's binding sickness," Stork said in an alarming tone.

"Stork, that wasn't even contagious," Piper stated.

"And don't even get me started with all the diseases you could be swapping. All I'm saying is… _be careful_ ," Stork warned, walking away from the two.

The pair waited until Stork was out of hearing range, Aerrow rubbing the back of his neck nervously and Piper tensely crossing her arms.

"Well," Piper began, "everyone knows about us now."

"And it wasn't a complete disaster," Aerrow said optimistically with a sheepish smile.

"Are you kidding?" Piper whisper-shouted, "we hurt Junko's feelings, and Stork lectured us about mindworms and diseases!"

Aerrow looked down, almost looking ashamed.

"Aerrow, was this a bad idea? I mean Finn won't leave us alone, the others haven't really taken it well, I mean that's not really light and breezy."

"Yeah," Aerrow said nervously, "this has been more stressful and scary."

"You've gotta admit Aerrow, there has been a lot of signs that maybe we should hit the brakes."

Aerrow pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking, "So what do you want to do then? Go back to being friends? Teammates?"

Piper nodded, "Yeah, that might be where it needs to be right now."

Aerrow's facial expression was sullen, but nonetheless he nodded, "Okay."

"Okay," Piper nodded, her face in a guilty frown, "I'm sorry."

With that being said, Piper quickly walked away. Aerrow watched her as she left.

* * *

Aerrow knocked on Junko's door, thinking he could apologize to him. Almost immediately, the door opened to reveal Junko.

"Hey buddy - please don't shut the door on me. I just wanted to come by and apologize about me and Piper and let you know we're no longer… whatever we were," Aerrow said solemnly.

Junko's ears drooped down like they did when he'd get upset, "You guys didn't need to break up! I was only upset because you guys didn't tell me and I thought you didn't trust me."

Aerrow sighed, "I know. It's because it wasn't going to work and the universe doomed us. I _do_ trust you Junko, but we didn't tell you because we were trying to be cautious. We wanted to tell you guys at the right time; the only reason Finn knew was 'cause he walked out at the wrong time and caught us."

Junko's ears went erect, "Finn didn't tell me that part! Are you and Piper still friends?"

"I hope so. Look Junko, I feel like a big jerk for not telling you and I should have told you that there was something going on between me and Piper, that could have been why it got broken off," Aerrow said, looking down because whether or not he'd admit it, he was upset.

Aerrow and Junko didn't realize that Finn was in the corner listening to their conversation, at least not until he spoke up, "Wait, you and Piper broke up," the blonde questioned, placing a hand on Aerrow's shoulder.

"I can't say we broke up, we weren't really together in the first place."

"Okay," Finn began, "we gotta talk."

Before Aerrow could object, Finn dragged Aerrow into his bedroom. He pushed Aerrow onto his bed much to Aerrow's annoyance and stood over him, "Okay, what happened?"

"Well," Aerrow began, increasingly irritated, "when Mr. Big Mouth decided to tell everyone that me and Piper almost kissed, we ended up hurting Junko's feelings by not telling him, then Stork lectured us on mind worms. That made Piper believe that this wouldn't work out so she decided that we should go back to being friends."

Aerrow was never really one for name calling, but there were exceptions to everything. Aerrow was hurt that Piper decided to go back to being friends, so he let his emotions cloud his judgement.

"No," Finn began, "no, no, no, no! This is not how you and Piper are supposed to end! You guys

are supposed to grow old and die holding each other as your airship slowly takes on the horizon," Finn said, using his hands to make dramatic gestures.

"Finn, can we please just drop the subject? Just pretend this whole thing never happened?"

"No, we can't!"

"What do you want me to say, Finn? I mean we tried, we tried to keep it light and breezy-"

"Light and breezy?" Finn asked sharply before punching Aerrow's arm.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Light and breezy is the way you describe the perfect boxers, not a relationship you care about!"

"Finn, we were just being cautious; and last time I checked you didn't really help because _you_ wouldn't butt out," Aerrow responded sharply. This followed with another punch in the same spot as last time from Finn, "OW!"

"I wouldn't butt out because I was rooting for you two," Finn exclaimed. This resulted in Aerrow frowning, feeling like a jerk. "You guys walked into this with one foot out the door, _that's_ what doomed you, not the 'universe'." Finn used air quotes around the last word.

Aerrow nodded, "I guess that is a good point-" Finn proceeded to punch Aerrow in the arm again, "OW! I was agreeing with you! Why'd you hit me?"

"I'm sorry, dude! I'm just excited about all of this!"

Aerrow let out a sigh, "So, what do I do?"

"Easy. You go over there and you tell Piper how you feel, and bring her a box of chocolate because girls love that stuff."

"Finn, Piper doesn't even like chocolate."

"Right. Bring her green tea. No! Wait until it starts raining and kiss her in the rain!"

This caused a raised eyebrow from Aerrow.

"Nah, who am I kidding. Do it now!"

Aerrow rose from his seated position and walked over to the door, "I can do this, the worst thing that can happen is she says no, right?" Aerrow glanced back at Finn.

"You got this, dude!" Finn gave a thumbs up.

Aerrow let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, "Okay, I'm gonna tell her how I feel," he said before he pressed the button to open the door, revealing a Piper who looked like she was about to knock on Aerrow's door.

"Whoa! Hey!"

"Oh," a startled Piper chuckled, "hi."

"I was about to go look for you, what's going on?"

"Well," Piper started, "I was in my room, and I was thinking that I wanted someone to talk to about us, Cyclonis, and the Binding, and being in a completely new place, and just everything," she paused for a moment. "Then I realized the only person I want to talk to about that stuff is you. So to gunk with being just friends, and light and breezy, and being secretive to everyone, right?" Piper was tense, it took her a lot to approach Aerrow and say this.

Aerrow stared for a moment before a warm smile crept on his face, "Definitely."

"Guys," Finn began, walking between the two and placing his hands on their shoulders, startling Piper, "we really did it."

"Oh! Finn's here," Piper exclaimed.

"Hah, yeah," Aerrow chuckled then looked at Finn, "hey, if you don't mind," he then motioned his head for Finn to leave.

"Yeah sure," Finn responded, "see dude? All you had to do was ask," he added before departing.

Piper playfully rolled her eyes before looking back at Aerrow, "so," she breathed.

"Look, I _want_ this to work. I really like you; whenever you talk to me and laugh with me, and when we kissed... I felt like the luckiest guy on the Atmos," Aerrow explained. He would have went on had Piper not grabbed his hands.

"Enough Aerrow, you have me convinced," and with that Piper leaned in, and pressed her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed her hands at the back of his neck as their lips pressed against each other, moving slowly in unison.

Little did these two know, the rest of the team were not too far away, watching them with great interest.


End file.
